Mohammed Bouazizi triggered the Tunisian revolution, as he was the spark which broke the barrier of fear in the hearts of the Tunisians, and got them to rise against the rule of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali and force him to flee the country. In Egypt, the killing of Khaled Said was the “icon” that inspired Egypt's youth and fueled the feelings of the Egyptians, leading to the breaking out of the January 25 revolution, which forced President Hosni Mubarak to step down in light of a peaceful popular demonstration in Tahrir Square and the besieging of the governmental and state institutions! Among the influential youth of the revolution were Wael Ghonim and Asmaa Mahfouz, who took the demands of the Egyptians to their peak and allowed them to reach levels that had never been reached by Egyptian opposition parties and movements in thirty years. Regardless of the European and American positions, which are always in support of human rights and the people's choices, what was noticeable was the competition between Iran, Qatar, the Palestinian Hamas movement and the Lebanese Hezbollah to congratulate the Egyptian people right after Mubarak's stepping down. Indeed, Doha immediately corroborated its insistence on exceptional relations with Cairo, Iran considered that the Egyptian achieved a great victory, Hamas believed that Mubarak's departure was the beginning of the “victory” of the Egyptian revolution and Hezbollah congratulated the Egyptians for the “historical victory.” The Egyptian revolution is a great example of the uprising of the ruled against the ruler in a peaceful context, and it is certain that the Egyptians are ecstatic about the outcome of their revolution and do not need any foreign political advice at the present time. However, I believe that caution is required vis-à-vis the rush of the Iranian axis toward Cairo in an attempt to infiltrate the revolution of the youth, position itself around it, get a foothold in it and control the Egyptian street to move it in Tehran's direction in the future, as is currently the case in Syria and Iraq. But what will happen now after Mubarak has stepped down and after the military has gained control over the situation? Is Egypt moving toward democratic life and a new era? How will the post-Mubarak stage look like? Throughout eighteen days, the Egyptians witnessed an unprecedented revolution in modern history, alongside that of their Tunisian brothers. This revolution revived the spirit of the youth and the strength and legitimacy of the demands, which forced Mubarak to transfer his prerogatives to his vice president and to step down. Before this, he had to announce the rejection of bequeathal, the amendment of the constitution and the assessment of the annulment of the emergency law which was in place throughout his rule. Despite the different circumstances that prevailed during the January 25, 2011 revolution and the July 1952 revolution, there are similarities affecting the reasons which prompted the eruption of the two. The 1952 revolution was staged through a military coup against the oppression of the authority, the corruption of the regime, the deteriorating living conditions, the military defeats following the 1948 Nakba in Palestine, King Farouq's manipulation of the constitution, and the acute conflict between the national parties over power. These are - for the most part - the same reasons that caused the eruption of the January 25 revolution. Wael Ghonim, the young Internet expert who became the symbol of the January 25 revolution and the administrator of the page “We Are All Khaled Said” on Facebook, says: “This revolution represents the new generation of revolutions in the world. It is characterized by the fact that it was launched by the youth and relied on the Internet.” Also, over a year ago, he had stated that the Internet will change the face of politics in Egypt, a thing which was indeed witnessed. The question that is now on the table is the following: Will this revolution spread throughout the region? And which Arab countries are prone to witness it? It is not true that revolutions cannot be cloned, since there are Arab republics that will likely see the staging of youth and popular revolutions simulating what happened in Tunisia and Egypt, even if to achieve different demands. We may thus see similar revolutions in Syria, Algeria or Yemen, and they may even reach the Kingdom of Bahrain and Jordan. What is certain is that the worst populations are the ones that do not rise to regain their dignity and defend their rights when they are stepped on, humiliated, killed, imprisoned and oppressed, since such people will continued to be “weepers” without any value. The Egyptians were able to achieve the goals behind their revolution, after they wrote them with the blood of their martyrs, the persistence of their youth and the strength of their determination. They thus drew up a roadmap for other populations which may soon rise against oppressive regimes from which the principles of social and human justice are absent. However, what remains to be done by the Egyptians is to overcome the disputes, the exchange of accusations, the settling of scores and the presentation of blacklists featuring the names of those who were with or against Mubarak's government, so that they can build the country based on just and unblemished democratic foundations.
